Social services

Methodology for mapping of social welfare services

1. Introduction

This mapping of social welfare services in Tajikistan – and the creation of a corresponding database - was carried out within the framework of the EU-funded project ‘Technical Assistance to Sector Policy Support Programme in the Social Protection Sector – Service Delivery Component, Tajikistan’ between April and September 2011. Using existing national legislation as a basis for categorisation of information, the aim of the exercise was to gain a better understanding of e capacity of the current social services system by identifying currently available services, the target groups that they serve and their geographical location. Such an audit of existing social services available nationwide represents an important benchmark for further assessment and analysis.

The searchable database stands as a useful tool for a range of purposes; as well as being a key source of information for policy-makers and others involved in planning and development processes, including donors and NGOs, it is also a practical resource service providers themselves – to improve co-ordination and collaboration – and for those seeking services. The resource and can also inform research and monitoring activities in support of the on-going development of the overall social welfare system.

2. Methodology

A census-type survey of all social welfare services being provided by both governmental and non-governmental organisations was carried out between April and September 2011 with final amendments and updates completed in June 2012.

A baseline service-mapping questionnaire was distributed to all district administrations in Tajikistan. The questionnaire requested baseline data in relation to social welfare services operating at district level for all vulnerable groups. Service providers were subsequently visited by the project team in order to validate or gather additional data . A series of consultations were also held with SASPEM and local authorities.

In total, interviews were held with 235 service providers in 62 districts. Information on services being being delivered by or on behalf of the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health was kindly provided by staff of the Ministries and by UNICEF. Additional data was obtained from a variety of sources including service directories and planning documents.

The data collected included:

Name and address of the service lirovider

Geogralihical location

Forms and tylies of services being lirovided *

Tylies of beneficiaries receiving services in 2010

Origin of beneficiaries

Number of staff

Service caliacity (maximum number of beneficiaries that could be enrolled at any one time),

Source(s) of financing

Initial analysis revealed significant inaccuracy in the data supplied. Follow-up visits were subsequently made to allservice providers which included a review of beneficiary lists.

The services listed for each rayon were categorised into the following ‘forms’ in-line with domestic legislation:

Based on the data collected, a comprehensive database of available services was created and now offers the most comprehensive single source of information about social services provision in Tajikistan at the time of writing.

A special module of the MLSPP website was developed as a platform to disseminate the information. Visualization of the service maps was carried out using a Geographic Information System (GIS)** and made available online at: (http://www.mehnat.tj/mapping!JumpHtml(`http://www.mehnat.tj/mapping')).

* Forms of services as described in the Law “On Social Services”.

** The visualization of service maps was carried out based on the methodology suggested in the work ‘An Introduction to Concept Mapping for Planning and Evaluation’ by William M.K. Trochim (2008).